The present invention relates to a technique for accurately tracking the movements of objects, in particular of organs, such as heart wall/vessel wall. In clinical examinations it is often necessary to determine the movement of certain organs, such as the heart wall or vessel wall. For example, the thickness of the heart wall changes over time during each heartbeat while the heart is contracting and expanding. To diagnose certain heart conditions it is necessary to track down dynamically the alteration of the heart wall thickness or of other critical organ parameters. Many clinical measurements can be realized, such as, heart thickness as a function of time at a specific heart location, which is an important application for an echocardiography. Especially with the use of ultrasound or radiology image systems, it is difficult to obtain such measurements because the objects investigated, such as a heart wall, are often part of a larger object, which can move or contract and thereby make measurements of specific areas nearly impossible.
It is therefore that objective of the present invention to provide a method of dynamically and accurately measuring the movement of objects. The method according to the present invention for dynamically measuring movement of objects using image processing provides the steps of
receiving a sequence of images,
determining at least a first and second reference point within a first image,
defining identification areas around the reference points,
searching within a sequential image a search area around the predefined reference points which best match the identification area,
determining the displacement of the reference point.
In another embodiment the present invention provides a method of dynamically measuring movement of objects using image processing with the steps of:
a) receiving a sequence of images,
b) determining at least a first and second reference point within a first image,
c) defining identification areas around the reference points,
d) searching within a sequential image a search area around the predefined reference points which best match the identification area,
e) determining the displacement of the reference point, and repeating steps c) to e) for all images whereby the points which best match the reference points are used as new reference points.
Yet another embodiment comprises an ultrasound imaging system for dynamically measuring movement of objects using image processing including means for generating a sequence of images, input means for determining at least a first and second reference point within a first image, processing means for defining identification areas around the reference points and for searching within a sequential image a search area around the predefined reference points which best match the identification area, and for determining the displacement of the reference point.